Healing Cancer From The Inside Out

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All Rise...

Do you seriously expect Judge Erich Asperschlager to write a funny blurb about cancer?

The Charge

"Half of the modern drugs could well be thrown out the window, except that
the birds might eat them."—M. HI Fischer, MD

"In time, the War on Cancer will be regarded as one of the biggest tragedies
in medical history."—Mike Anderson

"This is an educational presentation. If you have any medical condition, you
should seek two or more professional opinions before making any treatment
decisions."

The Case

Thankfully, no one in my immediate family has had to fight cancer, but I know
people who have. In this age of scientific and technological advancements, mere
mention of the word is enough to strike fear in even the healthiest of adults.
The mortality rates are staggering, it can hit anyone at any time, and there is
no cure. Or is there?

Mike Anderson's Healing Cancer from the Inside Out is a remarkable
documentary with a simple and frightening message: Standard treatments for
cancer not only don't work, they do more harm than good, and there's too much
money at stake for the pharmaceutical companies and medical establishment to
change things. Very little progress has been made in cancer treatment over the
past 100 years, and if, as Healing contends, cancer patients who aren't
treated live just as long (if not longer) than those who do, maybe it's time to
look at other options.

It's up to you to decide how much of Healing Cancer you want to
believe. Much of it goes against commonly accepted ideas about scientific
progress and medical breakthroughs. When most people get sick, they go to the
doctor or the pharmacy. But what if there was a better way to heal? What if
eating healthy foods was actually more effective than taking a pill?

I'm no health nut, but the alternative medicine arguments in this
documentary make a lot of sense. Maybe I'm more open to Anderson's point of view
because I've been going to the chiropractor regularly for the past few years.
Before I started getting adjusted—to regain the curve in my spine, and
free up pinched nerves—I had tons of back and neck pain, and headaches.
Now, I don't. I saw a doctor for my pain years ago, and the best he could do for
me was to tell me my condition is hereditary and that I should just take
ibuprofen. It's only my experience, so I'm not going to proclaim one approach to
be "right" or "wrong." I just know which one worked for me.

In Healing, Mike Anderson—a "medical researcher, author, and
filmmaker" whose father died of cancer—lays out lengthy arguments for both
the ineffectiveness of current cancer treatment and the ability of the human
body to fight disease if given the proper nutritional fuel to do so. He argues
that treatments like chemotherapy do more harm than good, and that surgery only
treat the symptoms, not the cause. A healthy immune system is able to destroy
cancer cells that exist, all the time, in every human body. Cancer is only able
to multiply and grow when the body's defense system isn't working at peak
efficiency. Anderson believes that boosting the immune system through "diet
therapy" can actually fight, and reverse, cancer if caught early enough.
And he's not alone.

Though Healing Cancer's primary goal is to promote the idea that
disease can be prevented and cured with healthy eating, it gives equal time to
exposing the medical establishment's seamy underbelly. Anderson accuses
organizations like the American Medical Association and American Cancer Society
of deceiving the public about risk rates and the effectiveness of standard
treatments, as well as trying to destroy the credibility (and worse) of those
who promote alternative medicine, in order to protect their financial interests.
Do those sound like outrageous claims? Maybe. But to paraphrase Chris Rock:
there's no money in a cure.

Even if you dismiss Anderson's point of view, it's hard to argue that he
hasn't done his homework. The movie is overfilled with interviews, quotes, and
testimonials from doctors, Nobel Prize winners, nutritionists, and cancer
survivors. Anderson's desire to break what he sees as the medical industry's
headlock on information is at times overwhelming. While I appreciate his wanting
to support his argument with evidence, one of Healing's biggest problems
is that it pounds the audience into submission with facts and figures. Anderson
could have gotten the same points across with less repetition and fewer quotes
(if I want to read, I'll open a book). With a little more time in the editing
room, Healing Cancer could have been a more streamlined and effective
film, at a more reasonable running time than its current 126 minutes.

Healing is at its worst when it lampoons the medical establishment
with heavy-handed audiovisual cues, and chapter titles like "Trick$ of the
Trade." In the face of rising gas prices and record oil company profits, people
are ready to be suspicious about corporate greed—even in the medical
industry. Anderson may feel he's fighting an uphill battle against public
perception, but recent high-profile lawsuits against pharmaceutical companies
like Pfizer and Merck means he shouldn't have to work so hard to demonize the
opposition—or rely on stock photos of surgeons holding bloody chainsaws to
make his point.

Healing Cancer is a compelling DVD because it clearly defines an
alternative to the media's usual message. Even if you disagree with Anderson, or
are turned off by the way he presents the opposing viewpoint as being part of a
"cancer industry" that has a "tumor fetish" and "worships animal protein,"
getting a different perspective on a problem like cancer is worthwhile. Just
because he succumbs to hyperbole doesn't mean the other side doesn't do the same
thing.

It's a good thing the message in Healing Cancer is so strong, because
the presentation is not. Though Anderson does a fairly good job of organizing
his material, the amateur filmmaker relies too heavily on stock imagery and
static talking head shots. The new age synthesized music is about on par with
the video. It works, but certainly doesn't do the film any favors. It's
important to come to a movie like this with the right expectations. As much as
he may want to be, Anderson is no Michael Moore.

There are growing numbers of people out there supporting new views of
medicine and diet. "Health foods" are available in most grocery stores, and
junky snacks are starting to kick trans fats to the curb. Even infant
immunizations (which some studies link to autism) are getting a second look,
thanks to active groups of concerned parents. Healing Cancer takes on
something far more controversial, at the very least because cancer is a
terrifying disease that has touched so many lives. Whatever you think about the
film, these ideas deserve to be considered and discussed, because when it comes
to medicine, it's always good to get a second opinion.